Wisconsin Gunman Who Couldn’t Legally Own a Firearm Shot and Wounded Co-Workers Anyway

Sep 28, 2018

By: Teresa Mull

Gun control measures didn’t work to stop a gunman in Wisconsin from shooting three of his co-workers last week.

“WTS Paradigm employee Anthony Tong opened fire with 9mm semi-automatic pistol inside the company’s Middleton headquarters Wednesday, seriously wounding three co-workers and grazing another,” the Star Tribune reports. “Police rushed into the building and killed Tong in a shootout just minutes after the attack began.”
According to court records, Tong “was taken to a mental health hospital and barred from buying firearms 14 years ago.”

The shooter “had no criminal history, but did have a run-in with police in South Dakota in 2004 that resulted in a judge revoking his concealed-carry permit over mental health questions,” reports the Star Tribune.

“[Tong] had this mental health incident,” Middleton Police Chief Charles Foulke told ABC15.com. “That resulted in law enforcement coming in and eventually having a court order to revoke his current CCW license.”

“Foulke said from that point forward, [Tong] wasn’t eligible to legally carry or purchase a firearm. A law enforcement expert told TODAY’S TMJ4 that means Tong could not own a gun, even in his home.”

“People who do these things usually exist on the fringes,” a Middleton community member told the news station. “Those guys are going to find a way to get guns.”